# British TV Shows That Have Been Popular In The U.S **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2023, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018 "2023-01-11T08:35:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bashorian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bashorian/32/3546_2.png) [@Bashorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bashorian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/1 "2023-01-11T08:35:47Z")
I’m looking for British shows that were popular in the U.S. They wre generally found on PBS when I was younger, things like Doctor Who and Fawlty Towers. Now many are found on BBC America and other channels. Im talking about shows that we’re hits, so to speak, here, like Keeping Up Appeaances and As Time Goes By. Help me identify them. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/2 "2023-01-11T08:42:58Z")
BBC America? That’s mostly Star Trek: The Next Generation and American movies. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/3 "2023-01-11T08:45:39Z")
Doctor Who and Fawlty Towers (flowery twats sign in my head) certainly. All Creatures Great and Small The Avengers Monty Python! ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/4 "2023-01-11T08:49:04Z")
Upstairs, Downstairs My mom was glued to the tv for this one. ---
**Author:** ![Bashorian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bashorian/32/3546_2.png) [@Bashorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bashorian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/5 "2023-01-11T08:49:23Z")
That’s true, but for a time they would play British shows on Saturday evenings. And, of course, the Doctor Who and Torchwood marathons. ---
**Author:** ![Bashorian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bashorian/32/3546_2.png) [@Bashorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bashorian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/6 "2023-01-11T08:54:28Z")
I think that there were several introduced through Masterpiece Theater, but I wouldn’t know the titles for years after because the TV listings would show only the Masterpiece Theater title. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/7 "2023-01-11T09:04:10Z")
There have been tons. Look up all the series that have been on _Masterpiece Theatre_– everything from _I, Claudius_ to _Upstairs, Downstairs_. Then there’s _Absolutely Fabulous._ Also, look up everything that has been on _Mystery_. Like the _MP_ shows, most have been BBC there there have been shows by Thames Television, among other studios. My list isn’t anything close to exhaustive. Additionally, there is a huge list of US shows that are adaptations of UK shows: _All in the Family_; _Three’s Company_; _Sanford and Son_; _Ghosts_; _Call Me Kat_. There have been three attempts to remake _Fawlty Towers_ for the US; all flopped, and two to make _Absolutely Fabulous_; both failed to capture the tenor of the original well, and the one that succeeded as a show known by its own identity. A rare show to go the other direction was _Law & Order_. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/8 "2023-01-11T09:05:21Z")
does benny hill count? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/9 "2023-01-11T09:21:05Z")
Only if being chased by a bevvy of half-naked beauties. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/10 "2023-01-11T09:57:45Z")
> [@Bashorian](#): > > That’s true, but for a time they would play British shows on Saturday evenings. And, of course, the Doctor Who and Torchwood marathons. Yes one of the more puzzling and disappointing channel evolutions. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/11 "2023-01-11T12:32:37Z")
Downton Abbey, All Creatures Great and Small, Inspector Morse, Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/12 "2023-01-11T12:36:28Z")
Red Dwarf. A pilot episode of a US version was made that was truly awful. I think Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy appeared in the US too. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/13 "2023-01-11T13:45:10Z")
I think Broadchurch was popular and introduced a lot of people to Olivia Coleman. I believe there is a US version though I didn’t see the point of watching it since the original was so good. I also watch a lot of UK police procedurals so I may not be the best judge. Doc Martin is another one that is pretty well known though maybe not mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/14 "2023-01-11T13:45:36Z")
> [@Bashorian](#): > > I think that there were several introduced through Masterpiece Theater, but I wouldn’t know the titles for years after because the TV listings would show only the Masterpiece Theater title. For some stuff on PBS, especially Masterpiece, the shows are co-productions of PBS, Masterpiece or a channel like WGBH. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/15 "2023-01-11T13:53:51Z")
As a kid I used to occasionally watch “Are You Being Served?” on PBS. I don’t remember much about it, and don’t remember it being an especially funny British show (especially compared to Monty Python, which I was also aware of). I think I mostly watched it because one of the characters was an attractive young woman with a British accent, which even as a kid I had a thing for (I blame Diana Rigg on the Avengers for that 😊). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/16 "2023-01-11T14:14:31Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > rare show to go the other direction was _Law & Order_. I know it was inspired by Steven Moffatt’s courtship and subsequent marriage to Sue Vertue, but _Coupling_ always felt like the British version of _Friends_, to me. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/17 "2023-01-11T14:37:54Z")
Jeremy Brett’s _Sherlock Holmes_ series’ were on Masterpiece. The most recent version of Morse, _Endeavour_ has been popular. My mom likes _Call the Midwife_. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/18 "2023-01-11T14:41:53Z")
_Hustle_ ran on AMC for several years, with the channel co-producing two seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/19 "2023-01-11T14:42:34Z")
Besides PBS, there were British shows syndicated to independent (often UHF) low budget channels. **The Saint** , **My Partner the Ghost** (Randall and Hopkirk (deceased) in the UK.) and **The Avengers** are the ones that come to mind. **Benny Hill** was another one that usually aired on the low rent channels that eventually became the land of infomercials. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/20 "2023-01-11T14:43:28Z")
The British comedy _The Young Ones_ found an American audience on MTV circa 1986-88. EDIT: Patrick McGoohan’s _The Prisoner_ also has/had an audience in the U.S., but I don’t know how it was normally broadcast (e.g. was it also a PBS program?). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018.md?page=2)